Hi there, and welcome to this course on the Traxler Counterattack! In this counterattack, we completely ignore White’s looming threat of a double-attack on the f7-square. Instead of playing a standard defensive move, we launch an immediate, sacrificial counterattack against White's f2-square.
When White plays 4. Ng5, they are threatening to land a devastating blow on f7 (the core premise of the notorious Fried Liver Attack). By choosing 4... Bc5!?, we set a psychological and tactical minefield. White generally responds in one of two ways: 5. Nxf7, or 5. Bxf7+. Everyone says that Bxf7+ is the best and sound move, because it gives us an unsafe king. It also gives white a free pawn in material. However, if White does play Nxf7, you sacrifice the bishop with Bxf2+. If White accepts the sacrifice by taking the bishop with their king, they enter a tactical nightmare. White’s king is stripped of safety and dragged into the open board, facing terrifying checkmating nets from our rapidly developing queen and knights. Objectively, computers evaluate this line as balanced (0.00), but for a human player, navigating the defense without making a fatal blunder is incredibly difficult. White's best try is typically to retreat the king safely to g1 after the check, though we retain strong attacking chances with ...Qh4.
Alright, sorry for the long bit, let’s start! Pawn to e5 is the best, it takes the center and is the most common move.